Ray Bourque on D&C: Physical play and will the key for Bruins

Former Bruins defenseman Ray Bourque joined Dennis & Callahan Thursday morning following the Bruins 4-0 win in Game 4 to discuss the game and the remainder of the series with the Canucks. To hear the interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.

‘I saw the Bruins come out with a different will in Game 3, from the opening shift when [Mark] Recchi went out ran over two guys, they were trying to be so much more physical than they were in Vancouver,” Bourque said. “I see a different will from the Bruins, and obviously that hit on [Nathan] Horton fueled things even more for the guys to rally around and make them more determined and hungry and want to win it for him. They just kept coming and coming to Vancouver in terms of physical play ‘¦ As both games wore on you could see the Bruins were wearing down Vancouver and how they were playing physically and it was fun to watch.’

Bourque discussed how goaltending has been such a major difference in the series.

“As you look at both teams their backbone is their goaltending and they rely on their goaltending so much, and Tim Thomas has been so much better than [Roberto] Luongo. I think that is wearing on Vancouver, as they are saying, ‘what are we going to get tonight from this guy?’ He’s been struggling.’

Although Luongo has in fact struggled, Bourque does not expect a Cancucks goalie change for Game 5.

‘I think you have to go with the guy that has gotten you there and is a Vezina trophy finalist, with Thomas, and you hope he gets back home and feels comfortable and plays his game,” he said. “I think you can’t go away from him, his track record in regular season is so strong … he’s got to the finals so you have to ride him out.”

Bourque says that the Bruins have been much more physical than the Canucks, and it is starting to play a role.

‘Vancouver has a little more skill, but the will is on the Bruins side. They are not known, the Sedin twins [Daniel and Henrik] and a couple of their guys for liking the physical play and I think that is showing up,” Bourque said.

Added Bourque: “I think if you look at a lot of the scrums the [Sedin twins] are looking from the outside, certainly you have to put up a stand regardless if you’re a finesse player or not. There is always someone around that takes care of your skill guys and make sure if they are taken advantage of it’s going to be addressed, but in close games like the first two in Vancouver you have to be disciplined, but when the game is out of hand that’s when you take a stand and try and prove a point and we haven’t seen that from Vancouver.’

The series is not over yet, according to Bourque, but the Bruins have proved that they can win it with the way they played in Game’s 3 and 4.

“It’s a long way from being over, and we gotta guard against that, and the players have to guard against feeling good about themselves,” Bourque said. “But I think that was such a key for the Bruins to follow up Game 3 with Game 4 and how they played, and you’ve got think that these guys are on a mission, and all they see is the next game and they want to win. I guarantee you that they are going to go out with the same attitude because you just witnessed what they can do when they go out and play like they did in Game 3 and Game 4.”